LATAPY WON’T LOOK BEYOND DENS CLASH
INVERNESS No 2 Russell Latapy refused to accept that European qualification is all but secured for Caley Thistle. The Highlanders are one win from making history and securing Europa League football with a third-place finish. But Latapy said nothing will have been achieved unless they win at Dens Park on Saturday. ‘There’s never enough done when you still have games remaining,’ said John Hughes’ assistant. ‘What we did tonight was get ourselves seven points ahead of Dundee United, so we’re delighted with that. ‘Every game we go into, we feel we can win it — and we’ll go to Dundee to do that. To finish the job would mean the club’s highest position and a European place — a massive step.’ Latapy admitted he was not concerned for player safety despite rain-drenched conditions affecting the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium surface. ‘It wasn’t a night for playing the way we like, but we still achieved it in periods,’ he said. ‘In Scottish football, there are always tackles flying in, so it wasn’t a concern. ‘Most important was getting back to winning ways. For all the rain, the pitch held up well — just one or two patches of water — but we’re happy the game went on.’ Jackie McNamara admitted third place was almost certainly gone for United, who have won just twice in the past 15 games. But he will prime his players for a derby against St Johnstone on Saturday. ‘Third is difficult for us now,’ said the Tannadice boss. ‘We started well and got the first goal, possibly down to the conditions. We had a good spell after that and we stopped playing. ‘Their equaliser was down to the conditions a bit, although they worked it well and then really came into it. ‘The lad (Danny Williams) got a good strike for the second one, but we were guilty of being a bit naive in the conditions. ‘We had opportunities but didn’t do enough in terms of game management.’